Experiment 7 Day 1 (HIATUS)
by GhostPikachu
Summary: When Zim comes to Earth, he doesn't land in some troubled town. No, he lands in Tokyo, Japan. Zim has a foolproof plan to enslave the human race and it involves WAFFLES! Wait, SCIENCE! AND EXPERIMENTS! Zim ends up creating something that will wipe the filthy pig worms out for him. However, he runs into some problems when his creations aren't exactly the loyal army he counted on...
1. The Extraterrestrials Are Coming

**Okay, people. I know I have Stronger to worry about but I've been busy, down, and had writer's block all at the same time. In the meantime, I wanted to give this story another shot.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INVADER ZIM OR PARASYTE: THE MAXIM**

 **ALSO, THIS IS RATHER IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ THIS A/N IF NOTHING ELSE. This is an AU where Zim didn't go to the unnamed town Dib and everyone resides in. Zim is smarter and a little more serious (sometimes), but don't worry. He's as egotistical as ever. GIR is a smidgen smarter (still the butter knife in a drawer full of steak knives) but still not serious at all. In this story, Zim still doesn't know that the Tallest only sent him to get rid of him. I haven't decided whether I'll include Dib yet or not, but if I do, it'll be older Dib.**

 **I'm afraid this chapter won't have anything from Parasyte in it. This is just setting up everything. I promise it gets better.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, onwards!**

* * *

Stage One

The Extraterrestrials Are Coming

"Doom doom doom doom," sang a tiny robot in a purple ship.

Next to this robot, a small green alien was drooling in his seat of boredom. "GIR. _Please_ stop singing. You're killing me."

"Doom!" yelled GIR enthusiastically.

"Voot Cruiser approaching planet 'Earth,'" said the ship's computer.

"Finally, a planet! I don't know how much more of this I can take," the green figure said, glancing at GIR over his shoulder. "It looks pathetic."

"They're DOOMED! Doom doom doom doom…" sang the very hyper robot next to the figure.

"Please not the doom song," groaned the alien. "GIR, be quiet!"

"Okay," said GIR, plopping down onto the floor like a sack of snacks…er, potatoes.

"Ship entering atmosphere. Scan 'Earth' for a digital map, all mighty and powerful Zim?" said the ship, almost sounding like it was rolling its eyes at the last part.

On the other hand, Zim was quite pleased with himself for that particular program. It was his own design of course.

"Yes, scan this pitiful filth planet. Also find out the language so I can communicate with these…Earthenoids," replied Zim.

All of a sudden, the entire ship burst into flames, causing Zim to release a set of colorful Irken words.

 _"Activate the atmospheric shield!"_ screamed Zim, slamming his gloved fist onto a big red button with a smiley face on it.

A pink shield with the Irken symbol on it sprang out of the front of the small ship and wrapped itself around the ship, protecting it from the fire.

Soon enough, he was in the lower part of the atmosphere so Zim deactivated the shield, yelled at the ship's mainframe, and landed in an alley. He looked around skeptically.

"Doesn't look like much," he said.

"Woohoo! We're on Ear—" yelled GIR joyfully before getting cut off.

"Be quiet! We can't afford to lose our stealth factor," Zim whispered-yelled. "Okay, let's get down to business. We need disguises. Computer, what is the dominant species of this planet?"

"It is something called a 'human,'" said the computer, displaying a picture on the screen of a human teenager.

"And the language?"

"'Japanese,'" said the computer. "Well, for this place. There are many languages on this planet."

"Do these humans not have planetary union?"

"It appears not."

"This'll be _easy._ Let me look at the disguises. And GIR? Quit chewing on that filthy human tool, whatever it is," said Zim, pulling GIR off of a fire hydrant.

The ship changed the screen to show its master some human disguises. The disguises were essentially holograms but they had mass. After a lot of tweaking, Zim decided. The disguise was a short (but just short—not short to Zim's degree. Zim had made sure his disguise wasn't as tall as the Tallest out of respect) teenager who looked to be about seventeen years old in Earth years. It had black hair cut with bangs and green eyes. His entire outfit was based off of his Irken uniform. He wore a light pink shirt with a collar complete with a striped dark pink hoodie. He wore black pants and boots. It had a purple necklace of the Irken symbol that would be his disguise "button." The computer handed Zim the necklace and he activated the disguise.

"Wow, where'd you go?" asked GIR, staring at Zim.

"Brilliant, no? It's me, Zim!" he replied, opening the arms to gesture to himself.

 _It's weird being this tall,_ Zim thought abstractedly.

"When do I get one? When do I get one?" asked GIR, bouncing around like a maniac.

Zim turned back to the screen, looking at various Earth animals.

"Hmm…apparently a dog is a perfectly normal animal to have by your side. Computer, show me dog disguises."

The ship complied and showed him some. Zim decided on a large gray (he totally would have gone with green but that might be conspicuous) dog with a white muzzle, white ears, white paws, bright blue eyes and a white tail. The Irken nodded his head and put a green collar on GIR, who turned it on immediately.

Zim pulled out a portable screen of some sort and started drawing something on it. Moments later, it was drilling into the ground. A house sprang up like lightning. Zim compared it to a picture his ship had provided and dubbed it a normal house. It actually _was_ normal if you overlook the creepy green monkey on one of the walls.

Deciding everything was in order, Zim walked to his new bedroom and took an elevator in the closet down to his laboratory, GIR trailing closely behind.

After extensive research, Zim knew a bit more about human society, but not nearly enough to really act normal. Oh well. He would get it eventually. He had an alias, Nakashima Hideaki, and those are cool, so what could possibly go wrong? Besides, he had much more important things to attend to. For instance, how he would enslave the human race and claim another planet for his beloved Irken Empire.

"So, GIR," started Zim, "what do you think would be the best way to make this filthy planet fall to its knees?"


	2. Pointless Forms

**I know I haven't updated in forever but my heart hasn't been into fanfiction and I haven't felt the urge to sit down and write. That's not really an excuse but eh, worth a shot? On another note, I applaud you if you have found this story. I'm sure it's very hard to find and I would really appreciate any feedback (COUGH COUGH)! But I digress. If you're reading this, you're doing plenty!**

 **OKAY STILL SET UP STUFF REALLY STARTS NEXT CHAPTER**

* * *

Stage Two

Pointless Forms

Zim had found in his amazingly extensive research (that Internet history had to be suspicious, right? 'Normal society of the human worm baby?') that "school" was an average part of most humans' lives. It was where they learned life skills like math and such, which Zim thought they really ought to know by the time they were seven at the latest. It wasn't like it was hard. **(Please don't kill me this is Zim not me)**. He was now on his way to register to the pointless Earth monkey school.

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the secretary of the school office Zim had just walked into.

"Um, hi. I am here to register for…school," said Zim, trying to choose his words carefully so not to arouse suspicion. Though he didn't think he'd have much of a problem. According to the research he had done, most humans didn't even believe in life outside their planet. How naïve! Zim thought, humming to himself as he filled out the paperwork necessary to join the school.

"Here," said Zim, handing the secretary the paperwork about fifteen minutes later.

"That was quick," she remarked as she leafed through it to make sure that he'd done it all.

"Uh…I was prepared! I…move around schools a lot and I'm used to all the signatures—er, paperwork—that comes with it," replied Zim, doing his best to come up with a credible excuse.

"Well, you're good to go regardless. You start next Monday," said the secretary.

Zim nodded in reply and left quickly, eager to get home and continue working on his project.

Once he did get back, he immediately went down the elevator to his lab. "GIR! Has the species done anything since I left to do that pointless form filling?" barked Zim.

"Well," started GIR slowly. "I'm not sure this is important, Master, but the thingamajig wanted to play with me and it got out. It's somewhere in this room…let's play hide and seek!"

"You…you _let it go?_ " said Zim incredulously, slapping his hand on his forehead. "Well, it's not a total loss. You say it's still in this lab somewhere?"

"I don't know," replied GIR, sitting on the floor and shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth.

Zim briefly wondered why GIR ate at all but gave it no further thought as his mind focused back on the experiment. "GIR, I need you to listen. This is very, very important," he said, grabbing the attention of the little robot as he jumped up and went into SIR mode. If only there was a way to make SIR mode permanent. "Experiment 1 wants to play with you."

Suddenly GIR's eye display went wide and he burst into a huge smile. "What does he want to play? Hide and seek? Tag? Chutes and Ladders?"

At least he's adjusted well to Earth life to use these terms so naturally, thought Zim. "He wants to play Hide and Seek. And he wants to be found within two glorbenies—um, five minutes. Are you up to the challenge?"

"Ready or not, here I come!" yelled GIR, running around the lab and checking every nook and cranny. He even checked the nook's cranny.

Three minutes later, GIR came to Zim proudly holding Experiment 1 in his iron grip (well, not technically iron. Iron existed outside of Earth, but it was the inferior to the other one like it—redoptin, the Irken metal GIR was made out of).

Zim had learned that GIR didn't take anything seriously. In order to get him to do what he wanted, he had to make everything into a game. It was annoying at times, but it was what he had to do so he didn't mind too much. He gingerly took the experiment and put it back in its tube.

Later, when Zim was in the process of engineering a protective casing for his experiment to use to break the fall they would take when he was finished, the doorbell rang.

"GIR, go get the doorbell. The floor is a swarm of angry monkeys. Go!" said Zim, not turning around but hearing the sound of GIR flying to the elevator. "Oh, and remember that you must let the parents I already made handle the door before you step in or you lose. And don't forget your disguise!"

GIR was very excited that Master had given him such a fun game to play. He couldn't wait to win the game and answer the door.

He waited quietly on the couch while the parents opened the door.

"Hello, Nagashima residence. How may I help you?" said the robotic mother, putting on an atmosphere of normalcy.

"Oh, I must have gotten the wrong residence! Do you know where I can find the Izumi residence?" asked the girl at Zim's door. She was wearing a school uniform and she had short brown hair with her bangs clipped back on her head. "Oh, where are my manners? Hello, Mrs. Nagashima. I'm Murano Satomi!"

"Hello. I have no search results for 'Izumi residence.' Please try again later," said the roboparent, closing the door.

GIR would not lose this game. He had let the roboparents handle it, and he had to get there before it closed! He ran over and slid between the door and the doorframe.

"Aww, aren't you a cute dog!" cooed Murano, petting him and stopping when she thought she briefly felt cold metal under the fur, but she shrugged it off. GIR was very much enjoying the attention.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" muttered Zim as he worked. His robot _still_ hadn't come back.

Finally, Zim decided to check the cameras. He glowered at the cameras when he saw some _human_ petting his robot. The worst part was that GIR looked like he was enjoying it. Zim immediately pressed the button on his necklace to trigger the disguise and marched out of the lab.

When he got to the front door, he willed himself to calm down and not act angry.

"Oh, hi," he said, opening the door and pretending to be surprised at the sight of the girl.

"Sorry! Your dog came out and I just couldn't help myself," she said.

"It's quite alright. GIR, come along," replied Zim, impatiently motioning at his robot.

"GIR? That's an unusual name," remarked the girl.

"Uh, it's the name my father gave to him and he's rather eccentric," said the Irken, praying she would find that a perfectly normal excuse.

"Oh, okay. Sorry for the intrusion!" she said, running off and waving.

Zim went back to his lab thinking about how unusual the humans were.

* * *

 **Cookie if you got the video game reference!**


	3. Annoying Parties and Annoying Failures

**Thank you InkFlow for the review! I'm glad you like it so far. I know that this is a pretty obscure crossover, but I just couldn't help myself when I got the idea.**

 **Also, I was watching some IZ and Zim is about as tall as a doorknob on a door. Irkens are** _ **tiny.**_

 **Also, I lied last chapter. Sorry. There's a thousand tons of set up to do and I'm trying not to rush the experimentation process too much.**

* * *

Stage Three

Annoying Parties and Annoying Failures

"Well," said Zim, looking around his half destroyed lab. "That could have gone better."

Experiment 1 was highly unstable, the Irken had found out after his and GIR's "playdate." It was rather unfortunate, but it was science. Plus, it really _was_ a bad idea to feed it a taco, but no matter. He had already started on Experiment 2.

"GIR," called Zim in the microphone that came down and led to the living room. "I think I just had a breakthrough. Come on down to the lab."

Moments later, his robot was there as Zim explained why Experiment 2 would be better. He thought that perhaps the protective casing was the issue and he had made it more flexible. As he explained, a shrill noise echoed through the room and Experiment 2 imploded.

"Well, so much for that theory. Still…" he said.

Before Zim knew it, it was Monday and he was going to the pointless human education center. As if that wasn't bad enough, he had burned through another attempt.

"Class, we have a new student," said the teacher as Zim came in, still a little bit disorientated at being kind of tall.

"Hello, fellow…er, hi everybody. I'm Nakashima Hideaki. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said doing the bow that was apparently customary for their culture. It seemed an odd gesture, but he had passed their test of normalcy so Zim wouldn't complain too much.

"Mr. Nakashima, please sit down wherever you like," said the teacher. "Oh, and here's your book for this class."

"Yes, yes," muttered the Irken impatiently as he took the book and sat down next to a brown-haired boy with glasses.

The rest of the day went similarly with the occasional human female smiling or giggling in his direction and getting pink in the face. He wasn't sure what was up with that, but perhaps it was another part of worm baby culture.

"Welcome to gym, Nakashima," said the gym teacher as he walked in, glowering at some human who was having trouble keeping up with an exercise. "I expect good performance from you. Are we clear?"

"Yes," said Zim, fully confident in his ability to pass some fitness class. It wasn't like he had already had years and years of military training as well as being an Invader in Operation Impending Doom I and II.

"Alright, go join everyone else," she said.

"Hey, you were the one at the place I mistook for Izumi's house," said a feminine voice behind him. "I never got your name. What is it?" asked the girl from the front door.

"Oh, hi. I'm Nakashima Hideaki. Pleased to meet you," replied Zim, bowing as he had learned was customary for the humans of Japan.

"Well, I'm Murano Satomi. See you around I guess," she said, giving him a quick smile and walking off to join her…what was the word?

Oh yes. Friends.

"Alright everyone, we're doing basketball today," said the teacher, causing half the class to cheer and half the class to groan.

Zim had no idea what basketball was, but he supposed he could figure it out from watching the group before him go play.

* * *

After school (and after Zim crushed everybody underfoot after he got a quick explanation of the rules of basketball), he was anxious to get back to his base. There was no telling what GIR might have done. Since he left him with a game, hopefully nothing.

"GIR, I'm home!" called Zim as he stepped inside the house. The lights were off. That was probably a sign GIR had gone and done something like letting go of Experiment 4, which the alien wouldn't put past his robot.

"Surprise!" screamed GIR, flipping on the lights. He was wearing an odd pointy hat and the room was decorated with colorful balloons and streamers with one in the center of the room saying in big, rainbow letters, "Happy Birthday, Master!"

"Wha—what?" asked Zim in utter confusion.

"The Earth people celebrate birthday anniversaries," said GIR, bringing a big cake out the kitchen.

"But it's not even the anniversary of my birth date," said Zim, wondering how one of the pointy hats had gotten on his head as well.

GIR stopped in his tracks. "It's not?" he said, the tear display once again going across his ocular scanners.

"Er…I meant to say that it's my birthday," said Zim, sighing as he realized that he would have to get through this party thing that meant less time to work on his project.

"Yay!" said GIR, throwing glitter into his master's eyes.

"Ah!" screamed Zim as he attempted to rub the infernal substance out of his eyes.

* * *

After the party and the unfortunate incident of the soapy cake, Zim finally got down to his lab.

"Oxygen level critical. Oxygen level critical," said the computer, flashing red.

Zim looked at Experiment 4 just in time for it to die from lack of oxygen. "No!" yelled Zim in frustration. "That one had promise! Computer, how long had the oxygen level been low?"

"Since the noise upstairs started, Sir," replied his computer.

" _The party_ ," said a royally ticked off Irken. "Scan dead experiment and give me any new information you find. Leave nothing out. This will be a very thorough examination. Understood? Afterwards, put it through the standard preservation procedure and pack it away with new file label 'Failed E4 Project Doom OID2.'"

"Very well," said the computer, picking up 4 with electrical arms and carrying it off to the storage room.

Zim sighed a very heavy sigh and pulled on his antennae in frustration. He had lots to do now that 4 had died. He had to create Experiment 5, analyze all the data and programming in his oxygen system, and repair whatever was damaged. On top of that, Zim had yet to fix the scorched metal on the outside of his ship from the fiery entrance into the atmosphere.

Deciding to work on the oxygen for his experiments first, he sat down in front of the master computer and began work.


	4. To The Tallests' Horror

**Had a bit of writer's block on this one. About halfway through really got me going. So, as you can probably infer from this chapter and the title, real stuff will start happening soon so stick around (please)! Also, I hope this chapter doesn't seem all over the place, so if it does please tell me so I can fix it.**

* * *

Stage Four

To The Tallests' Horror

"Dumb oxygen tank," muttered Zim, welding the thing back together so that his next experiment wouldn't die. The oxygen system had exploded on him the other day and he was not in a good mood. Experiment 5 had failed as well, which didn't improve matters.

Experiment 5 had been a disaster. GIR had switched an Irken chemical with something called "Gatorade." The experiment had turned out bright pink and all it did was flop around on the ground and eat dust. Then it had promptly died.

"GIR," called the Irken for the millionth time that week. "Don't mess with my lab supplies from now on and I'll let you implement Taco Tuesday."

"I'm gonna win!" yelled GIR.

Zim bit down frustration and continued to work on the oxygen system. It exploded on him twice more until he nearly flipped a table. He stalked out of the lab and saw that he was about to be late for school. Punching a wall, Zim pressed the center of his necklace and ran out the door.

* * *

"Wow, you look terrible, Nakashima! Did something happen last night?" asked Murano, coming up to Zim who was sulking in the corner during gym class.

"Thanks," grumbled the alien, not in the mood to deal with human sentiment at the moment.

"Er, sorry," said Murano, rubbing her arm sheepishly. "Care to tell me about what happened?"

"No," replied Zim, getting increasingly more impatient.

"Okay," said the girl with uncertainty as she walked over to her friends.

Zim was bothered by a lot of girls throughout the day. He found it quite irritating and waved them off as patiently as he could. By the end of the day, he was ready to hit someone.

At least he finally got to go back to the base. Once he got there, however, he found GIR outside with something that looked suspiciously like a rubber pig wearing beauty products. He ignored him and went back to the lab. It occurred to him that in his genius planning and frustration as of late, he had forgotten to call the Tallest. Berating himself, he deactivated his disguise and called them immediately. Surely they would be glad to hear from their best Invader.

* * *

"My Tallest, we have a video transmission from…Earth," said the Irken manning foreign contact.

"Earth?" asked Tallest Purple, turning to his partner. "Have you heard of it?"

"No," replied Tallest Red, "but we might as well see what they want. Let the transmission go through."

"My Tallest!" yelled the voice on the other end they had thought they would never have to hear again. Both leaders looked at each other in utter horror.

 _"Zim?"_ said Tallest Red, looking at him in disbelief. "You're alive?"

"Of course I'm alive! And I'm here to tell you about my evil plans for Earth," replied Zim, pulling blueprints out from a drawer in the lab. "I have been working on a series of experiments—"

"Zim," said Tallest Purple, "we have an emergency call coming in from another Invader. Call back later."

"Of course," he said, shutting off the transmission from his side.

"There was seriously a planet there?" asked Tallest Red, breaking the stunned silence.

"Clearly," replied his partner, calling for a bag of doughnuts. "What do we do about it? He's probably going to keep pestering us with stupid plans."

Tallest Red thought about it and said, "It actually _could_ be to Irk's advantage. Think about it. This 'Earth' is in an entirely different part of the galaxy. It's off our map. They may not know of our existence, so if we were to rush in there…"

Catching on, Tallest Purple smiled a bit. "They would be completely unprepared. We need to learn about it first, don't we? Zim could be a source of information about this planet."

"Precisely. Now then—ooh, are those _cinnamon_ doughnuts?"

"They're mine. Get your own!"

The various service Irkens stationed around the room sighed as their leaders got into their daily brawl over snacks.

* * *

"Experiment 6 will work. I'm sure of it," said Zim to his robot as he prepared his equipment to give life to the creature he had constructed. It was small and worm-like, which Zim had purposely done as an insult to humans. He thought they were quite worm-like in nature.

"Can I play with it?" asked GIR excitedly.

"No," said Zim, putting the parental authority in his voice he was used to having to do around GIR.

"Aww," said GIR, going upstairs to mope.

Zim rubbed his hand together and switched on the machine once he was done preparing it. This will surely work, he thought.

Once the piece of machinery had cooled down, Zim opened the compartment to find a dead experiment. Zim thought Irk must have heard his shout of frustration. He carefully removed the small life form and examined it just to find that it would have worked had he not kicked the machine up a notch since the last experiment. Next time he would put it back on the normal settings.

Sighing, the Irken opened the journal on his computer he was keeping for this project. He was determined to be subtle with Earth's destruction. In hindsight, perhaps rushing in with a giant robot hadn't been the best idea in Operation Impending Doom I…

 _Experiment 6 Day 0:_

 _I have had the misfortune of yet another failed experiment. This one, upon the carrying out of an autopsy, would have worked perfectly if not for the amount of energy put into it from the life process. I think for the next experiment, I will need to replicate this one but bring it to life with the same or lower energy I did for the other experiments. Changing the outer protective layer may be necessary, but I think I'll do everything the same except for machine settings next time. By now, I'm anxious to get my plan going. Just a little longer…_

Zim sighed and snapped his journal shut, sticking it in his school bag. He might want to review it on break at school. Plus it was in Irken so no one would be able to read it. Experiment 7 here we come, he thought with annoyance.


	5. Experiment 7 Has a Catch

**I know this chapter might seem pretty fast. I'm worried it's too fast but I really need to get the story going. Please tell me if I need to come back and spread this one out more.**

* * *

Stage Five

Experiment 7 Has a Catch

"Chemical in flask #5," said Zim, holding out his hand for his robot to put the flask in it.

"Yes, sir," said GIR in SIR mode, taking the flask and carefully pressing it in his master's hand.

"Okay, we're almost ready. Give me the acid now. The one in flask #7," said Zim. "After that we can get the machine ready and we'll see if the reduction in energy level works."

He was promptly handed the acid. When Zim was done with his last tweaks, he pulled a lever on the machine next to him and set a timer. "Alright," he said. "Now we wait half an hour. After that, we can activate it and see how Experiment 7 turns out."

The thirty minutes came and went and Zim found himself back in the lab ready to resurrect 7. He put his experiment on a tray and slid it in, setting a few more dials and finally pushing the button to start the machine. A few blinding flashes (of course, they were not so blinding to Zim as Irkens were used to bright machinery or equipment) later, Zim opened the latch on the little door and extracted the tray.

The experiment was alive and looked healthy enough. A quick scan revealed the little thing to be perfect. Almost exploding with triumph, Zim swiftly put it away into a containment chamber and picked up his journal.

 _Experiment 7 Day 0:_

 _It appears that I have done it! Experiment 7 is in immaculate condition. Further testing will tell me if it is fit for my plans, but I think it will be. The scan shows promise and it certainly isn't pink and flopping around. At this rate, Earth will fall before the Armada even gets here. I'm hoping to get a human subject for testing Experiment 7. Then I will know if I should replicate it or not._

Satisfied, Zim slipped his journal into his schoolbag and headed off to sleep. Irkens may not have needed as much, but sleep was still a requirement for them. About three or four hours was recommended.

* * *

The next morning, everybody couldn't help but notice that 'Nakashima' was in an extraordinarily good mood. He had gained a certain reputation for being grumpy.

"Nakashima, you seem so happy today!" had been what several girls had said to him that day. A few were doing it now. "What happened?"

"Doom," he muttered gleefully, skipping a bit as he walked.

"Pardon?" asked one of the girls, stopping. "Did you just say 'doom?'"

"No, no," replied the disguised Irken, holding up a hand. "Nothing of the sort. I said er…I said 'boom.' Like, starting the day off with a bang."

"Oh, okay!" she replied, cheering up.

When school was finally over, Zim almost used the spider legs of his PAK to get to his house as quickly as possible. As usual, he went down to the lab. He spent the rest of that day replicating Experiment 7.

He didn't even come to school the next day. He stayed in his lab and continued replicating, finally deeming it enough and keeping one for good measure. He got out the Voot Cruiser and made some tweaks and repairs, adding a slot for the experiments.

"All good to go," he said, getting in and starting the engine. The roof opened and he flew off into the night. As he went, he held the release lever for the experiments, pulling it every so often. Before long, the containment chamber was empty and there were little green balls all over Tokyo, holding humanity's demise inside.

The next day at school, Zim carefully watched everybody for changes in behavior or anything else. He did notice change in behavior in this Izumi kid, but his brain was clearly intact. Well, he would watch and wait and see. He had "wired" the experiments to have the ability to send out signals to him and to others. If something _had_ gone wrong with Experiment 7, Zim wasn't sure what he would report to the Tallest. Nevertheless, he decided to keep his friends close but his enemies closer, as was an expression of humans. He wouldn't really call his creations friends, but they were on his side.

Or so he thought.

* * *

"It's like he's been following me all day," said Shinichi, eyeing the shorter kid staring at him from a hallway corner.

"Oh, I'm sure that's an exaggeration," replied Murano, not sounding entirely convinced herself. "I mean, maybe he just has the same schedule as you? And maybe you're on edge. You've been acting weird all day!"

Shinichi suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "I just don't feel well," he said decidedly. "I'll ask the office to go home early."

"Get plenty of rest or whatever you need. Feel better soon," said Murano, watching him go down the hallway. She saw Nakashima come out of his little space on the corner and go down the same way. Well, maybe he _was_ following Shinichi.

"Wait!" she called, effectively causing Nakashima to jump and turn around with a slight scowl on his face. "Um…where are you going?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, obviously trying to make himself look taller than her to exude authority.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat with Izumi and me sometime," she lied, wondering a bit herself why she was stopping him. But she did know something—he might _actually_ be following her friend (why she couldn't fathom) and she didn't want him to have to deal with a creep.

His scowl lessened and it did not escape Murano's notice that his eyes took on the calculating look he had a lot. "Alright," he said slowly. "When?"

"I don't know yet. Here, we can exchange phone numbers so I can contact you later," she said, putting down her bag and rummaging through it for a piece of paper.

"Phone numbers?" asked Nakashima, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Yeah. Do you not have a phone?" she asked, finding it unusual but not unheard of for someone his age not to have a cell phone.

"What _is_ a—" he started, cutting off with the light of realization in his eyes. "I, uh, don't have a phone. Is there any other method of contact available?"

"Well, there's email," she said. "Surely you have an email."

Nakashima looked really uncomfortable. "I do not have the device for the 'email,'" he said.

"You don't have a computer?" asked Murano with surprise.

"No," he muttered, looking at the ground and scowling (Zim figured he was clearly supposed to know what this "phone" and he was supposed to have a computer in order to be normal—well, he had one but he'd never heard of "email" before.).

"Oh. Well, uh, I remember where you live. I could drop by sometime if it's okay with your parents," she said.

"They'll be alright with it. Come sometime," finished Nakashima shortly, turning around and disappearing down the hallway. Murano couldn't help but wonder just what she had gotten herself and Shinichi dragged into.


	6. A Favorable Situation

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I'm lazy plus I had finals right after Christmas break. I'm very relieved that I did well on my biology final (I found that out today), so you all get a chapter for my good mood. Enjoy!**

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Stage Six

A Favorable Situation

Zim opened his front door and slipped inside to be greeted with GIR facedown in a mound of mashed potatoes. "GIR!" he said, snapping the little robot to attention. "I have just come across an interesting opportunity. It seems that Experiment 7 or one of its duplicates has chosen that girl's friend as a host."

"Woo!" cheered GIR.

"No, not 'woo.' His brain is still intact. I'm not sure how it happened or even if he has one of them in him. I shall wait and see. It won't be long now, GIR. Every plan to annex a planet is bound to have its hitches. In the meantime, we need to keep close surveillance on him. I lost his trail when I got stopped leaving the school, but I gained much from it. Perhaps I can feign friendliness towards him and get his trust."

Zim headed down to his lab as usual and began the design for a tracking bug he could plant on Izumi without his notice. He spread out some sheets in front of him and began to brainstorm.

It would more likely than not require cloaking technology similar to the one in the Voot Cruiser. It would need to be light and barely felt. It would also, of course, have to very small. What would Zim do in the event Izumi found the device (which was unlikely with his level of genius)? He could put in an automatic self-destruct feature in it if that happened.

It was a good design, but something still bothered Zim. If something _was_ defective with Experiment 7 and the kid's brain was intact while being a host, would he still have that person as a loyal soldier? What worried him even more was the fact that these things were everywhere. He might wind up giving humanity a warning and time to work around the problem if every single one was defective and failed to take the brain. But he had to focus and run on the assumption that this was a special case or it wasn't a case at all.

The remainder of Zim's afternoon was spent working on the tracking device. It wasn't an overly complicated device so he was done by evening. Just as he came up to ground level, a knock sounded on his door. He quickly activated his disguise and answered it with a bit of a scowl.

"What do you wa—" Zim cut off when he was it was Murano and forced the scowl off of his face. "Um, hi. What do you need?"

"Oh, are you busy? I was going to ask if you had time to eat with me and Izumi. Like we talked about," she said, looking uncomfortable.

"No, I'm not busy," said Zim, marveling at the perfect timing. "I'm free. Just let me go get my currency."

"Your—oh, your money! Don't worry about that. My treat," replied Murano.

"Your treat?" asked Zim, wondering what that piece of human slang meant. From the context, he had to assume it meant she was paying for his service. Well, that was fine. It meant having to counterfeit less money. "Ok. But I still need to get something." He ran inside and snatched his tracker, slipping it into his pocket.

"Ready?" asked Murano.

"Yeah, let's go," said Zim, allowing the girl to lead the way.

"How are you?" she asked in a feeble attempt to strike up conversation.

"The state of my emotions is stable," he replied swiftly, immediately wondering if he had said the wrong thing when he saw Murano's face. Perhaps this was not the proper way for humans to interact? He really needed to do some more research on human social norms.

"'The state of my emotions is stable?' Man, you really are strange. Well, I guess that's not automatically a bad thing. Oh, it's just around this corner! It's a lovely little café. You'll love it," she replied, pulling him into a small brown building.

Zim spotted Izumi sitting by himself in a booth. "Hey," he said, sliding into the booth across from him. Murano chose to sit next to Izumi.

"Nice to see you," he replied, switching glances between the table and his right hand a lot. A small detail that did not escape the watchful eye of Zim. Had this boy managed to stop the progression of the experiment (he decided he really ought to come up with a name for them—calling them experiments all the time got tiresome) to the brain? How? Did he know something?

Pushing all these thoughts to the back of his amazingly ingenious mind, Zim replied politely, "Yes, it's nice to see you too. What is there to eat?"

"There's a menu right there," said Murano, pointing to a pamphlet-type thing on the table. Zim picked it up and flipped through it. When the waitress came over, he picked something random. It would probably taste bad anyway. He doubted humans were good enough at anything to be worthwhile. So why would cooking be an exception?

"So…Nakashima, how did you meet Murano?" asked Izumi in a quite pitiful attempt to strike up conversation. Zim mentally rolled his eyes.

"She showed up at my door looking for you," he said. "She liked my dog."

"Looking for me? Do we live close to each other?" asked Izumi with surprise, rubbing his right hand yet again. He shifted his gaze to the girl sitting next to him.

"Only a time or two. I didn't remember exactly where it was!" Murano said defensively. "Nakashima only lives a few doors down from you. You didn't know you had a new neighbor?"

Zim stopped his constant racing thoughts and spared a worried thought. If Izumi lived that close to him, it was very likely he was the one to receive the original Experiment 7. That worried him. If the original was defective…

"Nakashima, do you live in number 406? That's the place no one remembered ever being there before a month or two ago. Which is about the same time you showed up," he said, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. Zim right then and there put a cap on how much longer he could take his time. He had to do something about this kid and he had to do it _fast._

Say Experiment 7 did in fact inhabit only the right hand of Izumi. It was, of course, entirely possible. Was it still on his side? Or would it side with humanity? Sure he had "programmed" his creations with the directive to eradicate the human species, but he hadn't expected to run into this. His creations were quite adept at what they were supposed to do.

Many bad situations passed through Zim's head in a split second.

"I do live in 406, but it was here when I moved. It did look recently built, I'll give you that. Perhaps that is why the elders did not remember it being there. I believe I heard that neighborhood is fairly old? I had moving trucks come in the middle of the day while people are at work or school so not to cause a disturbance in the neighborhood," he lied smoothly.

Zim wondered how long he could pretend before the experiment in the boy's hand figured it out. Or him, but Zim had considerably less faith that the stupid human would figure it out. Still, the Irken hadn't been able to confirm anything. But that was what the tracker was for.

"Izumi," he said, leaning over and putting his hand on his shoulder, effectively planting the bug, "If you like, I could show you around my little place sometime. Will that be required in order for you to stop giving me those strange looks?"

He looked unsure for a moment before looking Zim in the eye and saying, "Sure."

This was favorable. He could get data on Izumi by doing a bio scan. There was Irken technology installed everywhere.

Ah, but those eyes. Zim knew that his creation was there. Even if the brain was still intact, it was taking its toll. In fact, is relocation to the brain was possible...no. They were intelligent enough not to take the risk if they were unsure of the outcome.

"Wonderful! You can stop by any time," Zim said. "I've nothing to hide," he added nonchalantly, noting that the other boy's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm sure you don't," said Izumi in a tone that was almost sarcastic. "However, Nakashima, I don't think you realize you're an enigma. You won't stop getting strange looks from anyone any time soon."


	7. Problems to Deal With

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the wait. I made a revision to the last chapter. It's only at the end and it's not important to the story but you can go back and read it if you want. This is set up for the next chapter, so stick around for the action!**

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Stage Seven

Problems to Deal With

"I'm considered an enigma?" shouted Zim in his house, throwing up his arms. "Great! Just what I needed! More attention directed at me!"

"Maybe he meant in a good way?" offered GIR, sitting in front of his favorite show, some anime with a blond whiskered kid.

"It doesn't matter whether it's in a good way or a bad one. Do you know what part of the invader training is? _Camouflage. Blending in with the foreign planet,_ " said Zim, letting loose a string of Irken curses. "How much longer until someone figures out something is seriously wrong with Nakashima Hideaki?" The small green alien pulled on his antennae in frustration.

"Master, you may not have to wait much longer. Look at the news," said GIR, changing the channel. "Something the humans call 'The Mincemeat Murders' has been on every news report for miles. It looks like Experiment 7's work."

 _"We have just gotten word of another attack in the line of Mincemeat Murders. Local Satou Ai came home to find her daughter's body torn and strung up on a clothesline like laundry, Police are still looking for the person or persons behind the murders. Until they are caught, everyone is advised to keep their eyes peeled and stay inside and in groups."_

"Computer! How many murders have there been? When did they start?" asked Zim, instantly in a better mood. They were working fast, even if they needed to learn to conceal themselves rather than leaving bodies in the streets or something. These were only the beginning stages; there would be time for that later.

"There have been five missing reported and seven dead. The attacks started just last week but some clones may be laying low right now," the computer answered in an incredibly bored tone of voice.

"Interesting. Keep me updated on recent attacks," the Irken said as he headed towards the door. "I am going to go check on my creations. Make sure that there have been no mishaps other than that Izumi boy, and even then it's not confirmed. GIR, don't you dare make soap waffles again while I'm gone."

He closed the door and put one foot in front of the other, hoping for minimal issues regarding maturing in the brain and such. He put his hands in his hoodie pockets as he walked, just letting him feet take him wherever they would go. He soon found himself walking towards the school building. He doubted clones would be hanging around there after school was out so he turned and went the other direction. It wasn't long before he heard a commotion.

* * *

"One of my kind is close by," said the thing in his hand. "We should go meet it. It could be beneficial to both of us."

"How do you know?" asked Shinichi, stopping briefly to wait for an answer.

"My kind sends out waves that can only be sensed by others of my kind. It stretches to a three hundred meter radius," Migi answered. "It is this way. Turn right."

"No way," said Shinichi, running in the other direction. "I don't want to get killed! Think of all the things it could do to me!" He stopped when Migi extended his body and wrapped firmly around a nearby telephone pole, preventing him from going any further.

"We are going. I will not allow you to be killed. My life is yours, remember? This could be valuable information," Migi said.

"Fine. Lead the way," said the teen resignedly.

"Here," Migi said finally when they were in front of a dark alley. Shinichi peered in and gagged at both the stench and the sight.

"Is that a dog eating another dog? Ew!" said Shinichi, preparing to back out but the dog had already turned around and begun to speak in a distorted voice.

"The brain is still intact. You failed too," it said.

I rather like my brain, Shinichi thought suddenly.

"Run! Now!" shouted Migi in his ear. Shinichi didn't have to be told twice. He shot off like a bullet with the dog on his heels.

"Why?" he asked as he ran, gasping for breath. "You were the one who said it'd be a good idea to meet it!"

"It gave off a very strong killing intent just now," he answered. "Okay, stop here."

"Stop?" shouted Shinichi. "Are you _insane?_ Why?"

"This a good area to kill it. The confined space of the alley and streets gave the enemy an advantage," answered the Parasite. "Now stop. It is coming."

Shinichi watched as the dog stopped suddenly. It then sprouted _wings—seriously, wings?—_ and took to the skies. The poor teen could only stand there in shock as Migi extended into the sky and _ripped the thing's heart out._ It was still beating when he came down.

"Ew," was all Shinichi could get out for a moment. "Aren't you gonna do something with that?" he squeaked, pointing at the heart.

Migi smashed it between his…fingers? And started to say something when he caught sight of something. Shinichi turned around to see Nakashima crouching behind a tree. He cursed in another language Shinichi didn't recognize and ran. It only occurred to him much later that he hadn't looked frightened or anything at the sight. In fact, he had looked a mix of pleased and grim.

"I can explain!" shouted Shinichi, taking off after him. I can't explain this, he added as an afterthought. Migi was extending himself as far as he could go without luck. He was completely panicking. Who would Nakashima tell? Would he turn him in? At the same time, Nakashima was really strange so he might not have the reaction Shinichi imagined as typical to Migi's presence. It was almost like he wasn't from Earth at all sometimes.

Shinichi stopped to catch his breath once he was certain he couldn't catch up to the shorter boy. "What do we do?" he asked Migi between heavy breaths. "Should I go to his house or something and talk to him? Leave it alone and hope?"

"We cannot afford to leave this alone. My suggestion is making an attempt at negotiating some kind of deal with him," replied the Parasite. "I will kill him if you do not. He cannot be allowed to know."

"Alright," said Shinichi, standing up straight. "I'll go talk to him."


End file.
